Introduction and a question.

[easternshores]

Hi Everyone,

I've been reading up on some of the information about the Roadster on the Factory Five Racing website as well as the forum. Great job on the kit car, descriptions, as well as building a community of fans!

I am very interested in building a Roadster for my father as a retirement gift. I have never built a kit car and only understand the basics of a running car. However I was wondering if anyone has ever heard of people successfully using other car parts (instead of a Mustang) to put a working Roadster together. Specifically, I own a 2002 Volkswagen Jetta with a 1.8 turbo engine and was wondering if anyone has ever built a Roadster with components from this car or whether custom parts would need to be ordered (and if Factory Five Racing would make custom parts for this build).

Cheers!

[Gumball]

Interesting thought - With the Jetta being a front driver, that could be quite a challenge. Even if you kept the drive configuration the same, you'd have all sorts of track width issues with that set-up. But, if any group of automotive misfits can address the challenge, your're in the right place.

[edwardb]

Welcome to the forum, and I applaud your interest and desire to do something for your dad. But with all due respect that's a rather strange combination. As already mentioned, going from a front wheel drive to rear wheel, nothing is going to match up without extensive modifications and/or custom parts. That combined with your lack of experience is really not good. Again, with all due respect.

Another consideration would be the change in weight and weight distribution as that engine is no doubt way lighter than the usual small and big block V-8's. Established suspension set-ups, shock and spring rates, etc. would all be going from known and proven to unproven.

Factory Five can speak for themselves, but I doubt very seriously if they would be interested to make custom parts for this combination. They are a relatively small company, and this isn't something that would have any commerical value for them. So the price would be prohibitive even if they were to do it. You'd be much better off to find a local metal fabricator if you really decided to go that way.

I would really strongly suggest you think about one of the standard Ford small block (302 or 351) drivetrains. They are available for really very reasonable amounts, literally bolt into the FFR Roadster with off-the-shelf (and reasonbly priced) parts. And even in stock form, will have way more performance than the Jetta engine. Plus you'll have something with the sound and presence of a classic car, with some resale value.

[riptide motorsport]

Cheaper, easier and quicker to do it the right way, find a good donor and start building, before you know it you will be finished....HTH,,,,Steven

[easternshores]

Thanks for all the information. I'll have to do some more reading on the forums, but I figure I will just go with the normal build.

Cheers!